Those vehicles received IIHS Top Safety Pick+ honors, which reflect the best of the best. Last year, only 12 vehicles initially qualified for the top category.

Another 27 vehicles qualified as IIHS Top Safety Pick winners, which reflect the best of the rest. (See the full lists below.)

"We continue to be encouraged that automakers are making changes and addressing the criteria to improve the safety of their vehicles," said David Harkey, president of IIHS.

The organization tightened the qualifications for 2019, increasing the crash-test standards from a year earlier.

Several major brands had impressive performances. Nearly all of Japanese brand Subaru's models landed on one of the top two lists. And Korean auto brands Kia and Hyundai, which are part of the same company, scored five and four wins, respectively.

Nearly as notable as the vehicles that made it is the list of vehicles that didn't.

To be sure, brands can qualify for the IIHS honors as the year progresses if they offer proof of upgrades or additional safety tests.

And some automakers didn't nominate their vehicles and thus couldn't qualify. Tesla, for example, didn't put up its three vehicles for consideration.

The stricter standards for 2019's Top Safety Pick+ honors require automakers to get a "good" rating in a passenger-side crash test designed to assess the vehicle's performance when the front-right corner smashes into something. It previously had to be only "acceptable."

In addition, the stricter standards for the Top Safety Pick honors require at least an acceptable performance in that test.

To get onto the Top Safety Pick+ list, vehicles must have "good" headlights. To get onto the Top Safety Pick list, they must have "acceptable" headlights. To be sure, most of the vehicles on the list only qualify with optional upgrade packages that have better-functioning headlights.

IIHS tests have shown that many vehicles throughout the industry fail to provide sufficient nighttime illumination due to poor manufacturing, inadequate design or outdated regulations.

"That’s probably been the one area where we still see a lot more room for improvement," Harkey said.

Insufficient headlights are one key reason why no pickups and many popular SUVs failed to make the list. Since they sit higher than passenger cars, they often don't project their lighting adequately and can create too much glare, Harkey said.

The next phase for IIHS: Integrating measures to assess each vehicle's performance on pedestrian safety.

Amid heightened awareness of America's pedestrian safety crisis, Harkey said IIHS "will be rolling out a new rating and it will likely make it into the Top Safety Pick criteria for next year's models." He said the system would likely reflect whether vehicles incorporate automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection.